Chapter 39: Yinzhou Plow

"What did you say?"

"Young Master, do not joke!"

The group was startled, and immediately, the whole place was in an uproar.

Cao Zhen gave a bitter smile: "We all know you have great talent, Young Master, but you simply do not understand farming..."

Liu Zheng smiled: "I don't understand?"

"What do you understand?"

"If you burn the Straight-shaft Plow, what will the farmers use?"

"You spoiled brat, with just one word from your mouth, do you know how many people will go hungry next year because of you?"

Those carpenters also looked coldly at Liu Zheng, speaking rudely.

Indeed, for nearly a thousand years, the Straight-shaft Plow had truly helped humanity a great deal in farming. It was a typical agricultural tool representing animal power replacing human labor, and it was also a crystallization of human wisdom in the history of agriculture.

Liu Zheng's words naturally made people feel that he was just an ignorant young master.

How could you understand farming?

Liu Zheng shook his head and chuckled: "Master Cao, it is not that we cannot plow the fields without the Straight-shaft Plow. My meaning is, we can have more advanced tools!"

"What a joke!"

"More advanced?"

"Could it be that you understand it?"

The carpenters could no longer hold back; several of them picked up the tools nearby, their eyes filled with hostility as they looked at Liu Zheng.

Cao Zhen pleaded: "Young Master Liu, please do not delay the craftsmen from their work. Many Tenant Farmers have left this year, and my Cao Family still needs to rush production..."

"You don't believe me?"

Liu Zheng said calmly: "What if I really can make it?"

He looked at Cao Zhen with a smile.

This made Cao Zhen shudder. The reputation of this Young Master Liu as a "cunning merchant" had recently spread throughout all of Yinzhou. Originally, the Cao Family and the Wang Family were still resentful about the Zheng Family taking away the Sales Rights for those Snow Creams and Perfumes, but upon hearing that the Zheng Family could only obtain twenty percent of the profits, they were actually gloating.

But now...

Seeing the glint of brilliance in Liu Zheng's eyes, Cao Zhen coughed dryly: "Is the Young Master serious?"

Liu Zheng nodded: "Farming is a matter of great importance, how could it be child's play? How about this, if I can truly make a more advanced tool..."

Cao Zhen seemed to know what Liu Zheng wanted to say and hurriedly jumped up: "It cannot be lower than thirty percent, the Cao Family must have at least thirty percent!"

Liu Zheng was stunned for a moment, feeling somewhat amused and annoyed.

Was there a need to be so guarded against him? It seemed Zheng Yueru had truly promoted him as a complete cunning merchant.

He smiled bitterly: "Master Cao has misunderstood..."

"My meaning is, when it concerns farming, we should benefit the common people even more! My County Marquis Mansion will not take a single share of the profit and will yield it all to the Cao Family, but once the Cao Family begins mass production, you must not demand exorbitant prices. At the very least, the price must be cheaper than the current Straight-shaft Plow!"

Everyone was dumbfounded upon hearing this.

At this, even the carpenters who had been cursing all along shut their mouths.

Not taking a single share of the profit?

Yielding profits to the common people?

For a moment, the way everyone looked at Liu Zheng changed.

Cao Zhen was even stunned for a moment before he cupped his hands and bowed deeply: "Young Master has a heart as vast as a valley; it was I, Cao Zhen, who was blind! Since the Young Master is like this, then my Cao Family also promises that if such a farm tool is indeed produced, the Cao Family will also not earn a single cent, how about that?"

Liu Zheng was quite surprised.

The crowd also repeatedly called it a Great Good.

Even so, most people still did not believe that Liu Zheng had the ability to overturn the Straight-shaft Plow, which had been passed down for over a thousand years. Especially those carpenters; although they no longer cursed, their hearts were still filled with a little resentment toward Liu Zheng.

Even we carpenters haven't researched anything more advanced.

A young master like you can do it?

Therefore, as soon as Liu Zheng called out, the carpenters of the Cao Family Carpenter Workshop all volunteered.

With another rustle, everyone followed Liu Zheng back to the carpenter workshop. Liu Zheng pondered for a moment and asked Cao Zhen to help prepare paper and a pen. It was somewhat difficult to draw with an ancient brush. Thus, Liu Zheng had long since produced a Pencil of his own at the Shen Gong Workshop...

Scratch, scratch, scratch.

An exquisite blueprint was drawn by him. He kept trying hard to search his memories from later generations, and after several modifications, the blueprint was finally completed.

Everyone was shocked.

"Young Master Liu, is this a pen?"

"This drawing skill is quite remarkable!"

"What kind of drawing is this?"

The group exclaimed repeatedly.

Liu Zheng was amused and annoyed; he called over a few carpenters and asked: "Can you understand it?"

The carpenters nodded blankly.

Liu Zheng had drawn it quite intuitively and as finely as possible. He had specifically depicted every component of this new farm tool, and he did so in a graphical way, so even the carpenters who had never studied could nod in succession.

"Very well, let's divide the work and produce it!"

Since the object had not been assembled, everyone still did not know what it was.

However, when the carpenters saw the diagram, their eyes all lit up. Because the thing Liu Zheng wanted to build was actually similar to the Straight-shaft Plow! But it was a super-improved version of the Straight-shaft Plow, which was the Curved-Shaft Plow!

The Curved-Shaft Plow was originally a plow invented by the working people of Huaxia during the Tang Dynasty. The biggest difference between the Curved-Shaft Plow and the Straight-shaft Plow, which had dominated agricultural tools for a long time, was that it first changed the straight shaft and long shaft into a curved shaft and short shaft, and installed a plow disk that could rotate freely at the head of the shaft. This not only made the plow frame smaller and lighter but also made it easy to turn around and steer, making operation flexible and saving human and animal labor.

It could be said that in the history of Huaxia agriculture, the appearance of the Curved-Shaft Plow represented the true maturity of agricultural tools.

Therefore, this was the first step for Liu Zheng to reform agricultural tools!

To give a simple example, the application efficiency of the Curved-Shaft Plow would even be three times higher than that of the Straight-shaft Plow!

This is quite terrifying.

Crack, crack.

People were also watching, discussing it among themselves from time to time.

Everyone was guessing, what exactly was this Young Master Liu trying to come up with? Many people were actually waiting to see a joke, and this naturally included Cao Zhen.

A full hour passed.

Only then did the few carpenters finish making the parts in their hands.

"It can be assembled!"

Liu Zheng said excitedly.

The carpenters quickly assembled the Curved-Shaft Plow. At this moment, Liu Zheng could not help but admire these ancient carpenters; their craftsmanship was exquisite, simply deserving to be called miraculous. Just this level of skill was far superior to those carpenters of later generations.

"Done!"

Thus, the world's first Curved-Shaft Plow appeared before the people.

The crowd buzzed and gathered around.

"Young Master Liu, what is this?"

"It looks like it is quite different!"

"But, will this work?"

It looked like something, but because it was much lighter than the Straight-shaft Plow, people were skeptical of it. In the common perception of the ancients, this kind of farming tool had to be very heavy and bulky to be able to plow the land.

"Will it work?"

Liu Zheng laughed out loud: "Why not try it and see?"

The crowd was full of interest and went to that field in the Cao Family backyard again. Liu Zheng instructed the carpenters to bring the ox up.

Cao Zhen was stunned and exclaimed: "Young Master Liu, why only one ox?"

The crowd was also puzzled.

Every time the Straight-shaft Plow was used, it required two oxen to pull it.

Liu Zheng did not answer them at all; he picked up the ox whip and gave it a flick, and the ox began to plow with the Curved-Shaft Plow.

Crack, crack.

At this, everyone was stunned.

All the voices of doubt stopped abruptly in an instant.

There was no other reason.

One ox pulling this Curved-Shaft Plow was actually not as strenuous as the Straight-shaft Plow just now, and... because this Curved-Shaft Plow added a Plow Beam and Plow Construction, whether a person pushed the Plow Beam or an ox pulled it, it could make the Plow Arrow point downward, causing the Plow Share to enter the soil deeply. If the Plow Beam was lifted to make the Plow Arrow point upward, the Plow Share would enter the soil shallowly. By organically combining the use of the Curved-Shaft Plow's Plow Beam, Plow Arrow, and Plow Construction, it could adapt to different requirements for deep or shallow plowing, and could standardize the adjustment of plowing depth, facilitating intensive cultivation. The Plow Wall could not only break up the soil but also push the turned soil to one side, reducing the resistance to the plow's forward movement.

The Curved-Shaft Plow had a complete structure, was light and labor-saving, and could perfectly achieve deep plowing!

It could be said that this was the most advanced plow in ancient times!

"This..."

"My god!"

"What kind of plow is this?"

People were dumbfounded.

Cao Zhen also rubbed his eyes hard, unable to believe it.

The carpenters were equally excited, and at this moment they admired Liu Zheng so much they bowed down, cupping their hands one after another: "Young Master truly has great talent. If this plow can be mass-produced, it will surely make Yinzhou's annual harvest double!"

Double!

This was a conservative estimate; in Liu Zheng's calculations, it had to at least triple to be what he wanted.

Yinzhou was currently reclaiming land on a large scale; what it lacked was not land, but labor!

The assistance provided by the Curved-Shaft Plow would be three times that of the Straight-shaft Plow!

If so, why wouldn't the harvest be three times as much?

Liu Zheng chuckled and said: "Master Cao, how is this Yinzhou Plow?"

Cao Zhen had nothing to say and cupped his hands: "Young Master should think twice; if this plow is sold, it will surely sell well!"

Liu Zheng shook his head decisively: "I said I wouldn't take a single penny, so I won't take a single penny!"

Cao Zhen also said: "Young Master's action today is a Great Good, it will surely make the people of the world feel ashamed!"

"My Cao Family will follow Young Master's lead from now on!"

"The Yinzhou Plow's selling price will definitely be lower than the Straight-shaft Plow!"

The crowd cheered loudly.

Liu Zheng chuckled, feeling extremely refreshed in his heart. He wanted to make money, but he really hadn't thought about excessively squeezing the farmers' money.

Soon, he signed an agreement with the Cao Family.

This was not an agreement to make money, but a low-price agreement promised by the Cao Family! In the agreement, Liu Zheng specifically stated that from today until the spring plowing, the Cao Family must rush to produce tens of thousands of "Yinzhou Plows" and sell them to Yinzhou farmers at cost price. In addition, for a short period of time, the "Yinzhou Plow" was absolutely not allowed to flow out of Yinzhou.

Regarding this, the Cao Family had no objections.

Of course, Liu Zheng knew that as Yinzhou became more and more prosperous and more people came here to trade and travel, the outflow of this Curved-Shaft Plow was absolutely inevitable.

In this era, there was no protection for Intellectual Property Right.

That was why Liu Zheng named the Curved-Shaft Plow the "Yinzhou Plow". Since he couldn't resist it—then he would enjoy it. When this "Yinzhou Plow" spread throughout the world in the future, who wouldn't know of Yinzhou Beach, and who wouldn't know of him, the Young Master of the Liu Family?

For the sake of this city's construction, Liu Zheng had also racked his brains.

A few days later, when the first batch of one thousand Yinzhou Plows was put on the market.

Liu Zheng realized that he had still looked at things too simply.